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Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics

CFAES

EEDS Major Sees Sustainability Mission Up Close Through Internship at Scott Miracle-Gro

Feb. 10, 2020

Sarah Light, Economy, Environment, Development and Sustainability (EEDS) major, is completing her final semester of coursework in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). Lights credits the diversity of her classes with teaching her the skillset to be able to look at sustainability issues through the lens of different people and stakeholder perspectives. She has put this skillset to good use during three unique internships.  

Lights says each of her internships, though widely different, have offered insights that have made her much more certain about her future and clear about where she wants to focus in her job search.

In her first, she worked for an urban farm in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her second internship was in a marketing position for a community development corporation in Cleveland, Ohio. For her third, she has been interning since September 2019 in Scotts Miracle-Gro’s Corporate Affairs Department under their Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility.

“My internship at Scotts has truly given me insight into how a large company functions and how they incorporate sustainability into a for-profit agenda,” says Light.Scotts

She shares that her current duties vary from day to day but include monitoring the sustainability inbox for the company, facilitating the company’s “Drive Clean, Park Close” initiative, and assisting the communications team with content creation. One of the big projects she will working on spring semester is facilitating the product donations process for the company.

“Scotts takes action to improve the company’s community and environmental stewardship,” says Light. “I am really excited to see how the current process of assessing of materials leads to future sustainability goals.”

Throughout her internship, Light has gained confidence in her abilities due to her boss trusting her to complete tasks.

“My boss allows me autonomy to make my own judgements and plans throughout my internship,” says Light.

As she begins her job search, she Light says she will remain open minded and look for jobs that she is interested in regardless of title. Her internship at Scotts has shown her that there are many different types of jobs she would be happy doing and they don’t have to be a sustainability position per se.

“As long as I am working for a company or organization that is working towards a sustainability mission, I could see myself in a variety of roles.”